These Strawberries and Cream Cheese Turnovers are the ideal handheld individual treats for breakfast with a hot cup of tea or dessert with a heaping scoop of ice cream! They’re layered with tangy cream cheese, sweet homemade jammy spiced strawberries, and baked to golden perfection in a buttery flaky puff pastry crust!
Preheat the oven to 425° F. Defrost the puff pastry at room temperature.
Prep the strawberries by removing the stem and cutting each strawberry into eighths. Transfer the strawberries to a sauce pan on low to medium heat and add the sugar, lemon juice, cardamom, nutmeg, and a small pinch of salt. Toss everything together really well and leave it on the heat for about 2-4 minutes until the strawberries begin to release their juice.
While waiting on the strawberries, combine cold water with the corn starch in a bowl and mix together really well until it forms a slurry.
Once the strawberries have started releasing their juice and the sugar has fully melted, add in the corn starch slurry. Allow the strawberries to simmer with the lid covered for another 2-4 minutes until the strawberries have softened and the syrup has thickened into a maple syrup consistency. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
While the strawberries are cooling, combine the room temperature cream cheese, vanilla extract, sour cream, and confectioners' sugar in a medium sized bowl. Use an electric mixer with the beater attachments at medium speed to mix together the cream cheese until it's smooth and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Transfer into a decorating bag and cut the tip so there's a dime-sized hole.
Unroll the defrosted puff pastry from it's packaging. If the pastry dough is thick, roll it into ⅛"-¼" thick. Working with one roll at a time, remove the rounded edges to form a square, and then cut the square into four long rectangles.
Pipe about 2 tablespoons worth of cream cheese evenly on the bottom half of each rectangle, making sure to leave ½ inch on each side for sealing. Spoon 6-7 slices of strawberries on top in a single layer. Do not overfill.
Fold the top half of the rectangle over and seal the edges really well so that the filling doesn't explode out of the sides.
Repeat with the other sheet of puff pastry. Transfer the pastries to a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Sprinkle each pastry with a bit of granulated sugar. Cut a slit down the middle of the puff pastry, leaving 1 ½ inches on both the top and bottom. Pop the baking sheet into the preheated oven.
Bake the pastries for 30 minutes, or according to pastry packaging instructions, until golden brown. Remove them from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Drizzle sweetened condensed milk over them and enjoy with a scoop of ice cream.
Notes
Do not overstuff the pastries! They will explode
Substitute puff pastry for phyllo or pie crust as a last resort
The homemade jammy strawberries can be replaced with a store-bought strawberry jam. I would suggest adding a bit of cardamom powder and nutmeg for some added flavor.
Alternatively, instead of 4 long rectangles, cut one sheet of the puff pastry into 8 rectangles. Layer the cream cheese and strawberries on 4 of the rectangles, and use the remaining four pieces to close and seal the pastries.
Tostore - Store the turnovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days.
To reheat - Reheat the turnovers in a toaster oven or oven at 425° F for 5 minutes.